RWBY: Darkest Before The Dawn
by Tokesy97
Summary: A RWBY Apocalypse AU where Grimm killed most of man and Beacon is one of the last human strongholds in Vytal. Rated M for violence and Dark themes.
1. A Beacon Of Hope

**RWBY is property of Monty Oum, and the rest of the Roosterteeth creators of it, I own none of the rights to anything except my OC's (Teams CMSN, AMND and SCRT). Any feedback is appreciated and I will try to respond to as many reviews possible. I will end up with some fairly graphic fight scenes and generally dark themes since this is an apocalypse fanfic.**

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The shattered moon illuminated the forest, all the puddles reflecting the moonlight while the nocturnal animals brave enough to try to feed while the forest was infested with dark soulless creatures. A tree creaked and a puddle splashed as a boot smashed down into a puddle, sending ripples to the edges. A figure sped between two trees, a four-legged beast following about two minutes later, the former hit a patch of open ground and the light illuminated his masculine face and his blonde hair caked in the blood of his former friends and the creatures that had pursued him. He reached into a side pocket and drew out a small cylindrical object, crushing one side against a tree he threw it behind him and he ran, jumping tree trunks to the best of his ability while keeping track of his predator, he couldn't be killed now could he. He skidded to a halt next to a thick running river just as the object he threw down exploded, a loud popping noise and flash then a loud shriek, as his night vision recovered he saw a fallen tree in front of him, he looked back and saw a pair of red eyes vanish into the tree line. This was enough to instil enough fear into his body to run across the fallen log and he sprinted across to the other tree line, he glanced back, a very costly mistake, he caught a twisted tree route and slipped. As he fell he saw Rose Petals' flurry down the from where he fell, obviously he was going to die. He had run from this thing for weeks and then he was going to die a mere ten miles from Beacon, the last stronghold of mankind. His vision darkened and he saw a red cloak before he collapsed completely.

He awoke in a grey cinder blocked room with metal bunks and a flickering light at the head of each bed. He groaned and sat up, looking around he saw shapes under the other five bunks in the room. The rusted door at the other end of the room slowly swung open and a man walked in drinking from a nondescript cup, he stopped as he entered the room and the door swung shut slowly, the metal door ringing as it hit the frame.  
"Who are you, where am I, did it kill me?" the man asked in quick succession to which the other man just lifted his free hand and held a finger up as he drunk the rest of his drink.  
"I am Ozpin, former professor of Beacon academy, now one of the leading figures in the anti-Grimm resistance. As for where you are, the Beacon catacombs were modified to become a bunker when Grimm finally managed to breach the outer walls of Vale, since then I have trained new hunters and huntress' to go and fight against Grimm while those who can't, or don't want to, fight can seek refuge and help with other tasks from food production and management to medicinal jobs." Ozpin explained before grabbing the door handle, "Follow me and I'll show you some area's around the Beacon Bunker, just so you know there is no tolerance for Human-Faunus rivalry. We must band together to beat Grimm and it's creatures." The man ran after Ozpin,  
"Who was the person who saved me in the forest? I remember a red cloak and then I awoke in that room." He asked as he followed Ozpin up to a landing and then into a large open chamber.  
"Patience, you will get your answers, just not yet." Ozpin replied as he walked to the centre of the room beckoning the man forward, he moved to where Ozpin had motioned. "Stay here, I will send some people in soon," Ozpin informed him before walking out of an adjacent door. Less than five minutes later four girls entered the room, a small red cloaked girl with her hood up, a white-haired girl of similar height with a white combat skirt and a foil in her hand, a Faunus with black hair and her ears wrapped up in a bow and a taller yellow-haired brawler.  
"You, you're the one who saved me aren't you," the man walked towards the red cloaked girl until she held her hand up,  
"Stop, I'm Ruby, leader of this team, that's Weiss, Blake and my sister Yang," she explained pointing to each one in turn.  
"So who are you?" the one who had been introduced as Yang asked in a brash tone.  
"Me, I'm Drake Harvardson" He replied before an alarm began to wail.  
"Weiss, Blake, Yang let's go," Ruby commanded, drawing Crescent Rose before finishing her sentence.  
"You're better off staying here, the Grimm will be easier to kill if we don't have to look out for you," Yang snapped before priming Ember Cecilia and following after the other girls, Drake stood there trying to decide whether to follow Yang's advice or go to fight the soulless army that was assaulting the last 'safe' place on Vytal.

A good twenty minutes later Drake heard the door open and he turned to find himself faced by Ozpin again, Drake opened his mouth to speak but was stopped as Ozpin held his hand up and just beckoned him forwards out of the room up to the main auditorium of the Beacon Bunker. As he arrived he saw the four girls from earlier standing with blood on their faces, dark splattered blood and no visible cuts on them, or so he thought until he saw the parallel gashes down Yang's back as she stood up and pulled her torn jacket back over. He was about to walk over and ask about it when a sword was held across his chest, stopping him.  
"You're the new one here I suppose," A feminine voice sternly asked, he turned his head and looked at the woman, she had red hair and green eyes, he realized he had gotten distracted by her eyes and looked away quickly stammering an answer to her question  
"Yes, I'm Drake Harvardson, I just came here from the remaining parts of what was Signal Bunker. What was the Grimm attack?" He asked before returning his gaze to her, she looked at him this time and he saw in her eyes she had experienced what no man or woman should ever have to.  
"I'm Pyrrha Nikos, and it was a light attack of Beowolves, not really a problem for the teams here but tedious when they're the only things that attack for weeks at a time." She responded.  
"Is she going to be ok though, that cut looks pretty deep, how did it get that close to her?" Drake responded, Pyrrha chuckled slightly before responding with  
"By the looks of out the gate the Beowolf didn't cut deep enough, enough to annoy her but Yang could take most things in her stride and she fights Grimm close up. Obviously one got behind her then she must have destroyed it, scouts saw fifteen beowolves and now there's only twelve pools of blood so she must have either destroyed every sign or cremated them with her semblance." Pyrrha shrugged, "either way I don't care too much, they're dead,"  
Drake stepped back and his eyes shot open, "She cremated them with her semblance, what?" he questioned hardly able to believe what Pyrrha told him. Pyrrha turned and began to walk away  
"Yeah Yang incinerates things with her semblance, one thing though. Watch the hair, if you want to live you will. We all have random semblances compared to each other, from glyphs to speed to fire to magnetism, that's mine. So whats your semblance or have you never been taught to use it properly?" She asked before leading him to an underground room that was extremely hot,  
"Don't mind the heat, we found out the pressure from this deep with this head can make Grimm masks and bone malleable, I sometime wonder how hot Yang burns if she turns even the bone to ash but she doesn't know or care, she shrugged it off before."  
Drake was struggling to remember all the turns down here and what Pyrrha had said. 'Using Grimm masks and bone for smelting' and 'Yang burns Grimm bones to ash' plus the constant 'left door here, down a corridor, then a right, first set of stairs and another right," how was he going to remember these directions.

A while later Drake and Pyrrha walked into a room with a dark stone or heavily fire resistant metal floor and a wall of anvils and forges ahead,  
"this is where we make and maintain our weapons, well here or the workshops so the screws aren't dropped if we begin to sweat from the heat, put this on, burns aren't too nice down here," Pyrrha begun, throwing a heavy burn stained blacksmiths apron and heavy leather gauntlets, "I know from experience they hurt. So what material for your weapon, we have a wide selection of alloys and other materials. Steel to Titanium to Grimm-scale."  
Drake looked at the selection of materials and asked Pyrrha quickly, "Whats the benefit of Grimm-scale over metal?"  
Pyrrha looked at him and sighed, "Well, it responds less efficiently with dust than man-made substitutes but it is physically stronger and can cut through masks if we maintained, plus it damages Grimm a lot more, but tempering it if it goes blunt is one hell of a task since you need high heat or you'll destroy the grindstone." Pyrrha drew her blade out, "Mine was made before the Grimm-Scale was discovered to be useable but I know some of the newer huntsmen have dual weapons where one is metal and the other is Grimm-scale depending on what they need it for, plus Grimm-scale has been used to make armoured plates for the buggies we have for going out to scavenge the few cities and former strongholds before they were abandoned or slaughtered, that's how we lost team CRDL, before the Plates were attached, don't get me wrong, the leader, Cardin Winchester, was a thug but no man should have been treat the way he was. Grimm reanimated the dead, reason why there's no graveyards, they..." Pyrrha stopped her voice cracking and Drake placed a hand on her shoulder,  
"It's fine, I'll probably find out another time, let's get back to the weapon side of things," he replied cutting off Pyrrha's memories but then the alarm sounded, a stronger higher pitched one and Pyrrha's scroll crackled,  
"Pyrrha, this is Ren, We need you at the gate, a large Boarbatusk heard is heading towards us, all hands required. Ozpin's order." A voice crackled and then the scroll went silent, Pyrrha grabbed it and replied,  
"Got it Ren, I'll get the new one in a bunker, we didn't get to forge his weapon yet." Drake grabbed Pyrrha's shoulder, "I may not have a weapon but I'll use a hammer if I need to, I'm a part of Beacon now," Pyrrha smiled at him, "Fine, I'll see if they've fixed the Dust Glory and I'll get you a feeder for it," and Pyyrha was off running followed by Drake up to the courtyard. They arrived just as the boarbatusk crashed into the gate and Pyrrha shouted something, "The turret... Dust... ory... Velvet can... Just.. the eyes" and she ran off leaving Drake to get to the gun and this 'Velvet'.


	2. Repelling Grimm

**RWBY is property of Monty Oum, and the rest of the Roosterteeth creators of it, I own none of the rights to anything except my OC's (Teams CMSN, AMND and SCRT). Any feedback is appreciated and I will try to respond to as many reviews possible. I will end up with some fairly graphic fight scenes and generally dark themes since this is an apocalypse fanfic.  
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**I would like to apologize for the delay in updating this chapter. My internet stopped working but it is running again and hopefully it won't happen again, thanks to all for your patience and enjoy.**

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Drake stumbled across the courtyard, side-stepping carts, buggies and other fighters all headed either towards the gates and fortifications or into the building, reaching a stairwell near to where he had been pointed by Pyrrha he begun to ascend and saw the sky for the first time that day, the moon was red, a fitting scene for this battle, while on the horizon a large ominous black cloud slowly crept forwards, forks of black lightning hitting the ground as it crossed the distance to Beacon. Ducking behind a turret to avoid the splinters of tree's that where exploding in front of the wall Drake ran towards a turret and saw a young girl except something was off about her, she had rabbit ears and was trying to line up a turret and feed the ammunition at the same time, the body of a fellow huntsman lying next to it, fortunately he was only injured from a splint in his leg and would recover.  
"Excuse me, are you Velvet?" Drake shouted, but got no response from the Faunus, "Excuse me," he shouted again running over to her side, "Are You Velvet?" She obviously heard because she looked around for the voice and ducked down just another splinter of tree came hurtling at the wall and embedded itself into the courtyard behind.  
"Yes, who are you? Are you hear to help?" She responded, to which Drake nodded and then added, "I'm Drake, am I firing or reloading?" Velvet then cupped her mouth in her hands and shouted back in response something that sounded like,  
"No..ime...ach...load...just...ire...eyes" and Drake rolled across to the gun figuring out what she meant while she loaded the belt into the gun. Drake looked down the sights and aimed at the nearest boarbatusks eyes. It's head exploded and the recoil shook Drake on the spot, before he lined up another shot with the next and pressed. Time seemed to stand still and nothing happened for the longest time, then a spray of red, blue, yellow, green, purple and grey rounds peppered the ground around the boarbatusk, eruptions of fire, ice, lightning, nature, acid and explosions destroying what was left of the Grimm.  
""10 O'Clock, there another Grimm," Velvet shouted pointing towards a larger boarbatusk and Drake panned across firing round after round at the ground as he moved the wall of elements holding the Grimm back until he caught the boarbatusk Velvet had point out in the mouth as it roared, the power of the Dust rounds trapped inside it's body caused the Grimm to thrash about then keel over dead from internal injuries. Drake saw as the large bridge lowered and eight figures ran out, diving towards the Grimm, he recognized Ruby and her team along with Pyrrha and who he gathered was her team, running towards the boarbatusks and slicing them apart, holding fire in case he hit them, Drake turned back to Velvet,  
"What's that cloud over there?" He asked pointing to the cloud which had drifted closer in the short time it had taken to kill the Grimm assault, to which Velvet just shook her head, "It's Grimm, he obviously found another host, he has manifested himself as a cloud and is going to funnel part of himself into another corpse, an extra hand in his assault on us, last time he did this, it was C..." Velvet was cut off as another tree exploded and she created a barrier which stopped her from being impaled by the splinter but she stumbled backwards and fell from the wall, crashing into a small wooden vendor stand, she coughed and slowly rolled out, falling as she tried to stand she found she had a broken leg and had dislocated her right arm. Drake looked back at the fight and saw the teams tearing the Grimm apart and he ran down the tower to Velvets body and slowly lifted her up, she placed her working arm around his neck to get herself comfortable and lift herself up slightly and looked at Drake,  
"Thank you, you didn't need to do this though, the Grimm" She started  
"Ruby, Pyrrha and their teams have it sorted, where's the nurse or at least an aura shot dispenser, we need you out of this pain," Drake interrupted walking towards the main doors of the bunker he pushed it open with his foot and strolled in, following the whispered directions of Velvet as her body began to descend into shock from blood loss, the break wasn't big but Velvet had received many smaller cuts from the vendors she smashed into.

Arriving at the room Ozpin had renovated into a hospital Drake realized he could no longer hear the combat from outside, and he wasn't that far into the bunker, he looked at Velvet who was pale and verging on passing out, picking up the pace he placed her in the nearest bed and grabbed an aura shot labelled 'breaks and blood loss' scanning for any warnings of dangerous side effects he saw non and placed it against Velvets broken hand, he depressed the end and heard the needle inject Velvet and sat down next to her,  
"Is it over? I can't hear any fighting," Drake asked to which Velvet looked at him then closed her eyes.  
"You think just cause I'm a Faunus I can hear if they're fighting," Drake blushed as Velvet snapped, "but yes they have finished, cheer up, I'm just messing," Velvet replied teasingly and laughing as Drake blushed harder, then her remembered the shot,  
'May cause senselessness, confusion, anger or drowsiness.'  
The pair sat in silence and Drake just watched as she lay there breathing steadily and slowly her aura begun to recover, healing all the tiny cuts that littered her arms and face, until  
"Quick get him a bed, we need an IV now along with a shot for gorging!" from a voice Drake recognized, turning round he saw Pyrrha, a black-haired boy in a green tailcoat with black and gold cuff, and a flighty pink haired girl in a mash-up of different clothing styles carrying a young boy with blond hair and the remnants of a chest plate over a black hoodie over a large cut on his chest, placing him on a bed Pyrrha spun round and shouted,  
"Ren find me a compress, Nora find me an IV drip, Drake try to find an aura shot for gorging, should be in the serious injuries section," to which the people immediately ran off to their respective area's. Drake found his aura shot and ran back with it handing it over to Pyrrha she injected the boy with it as Ren returned with a compress of military grade compression bandages which Drake and Ren lifted the boy enough for Pyrrha to wrap around him, followed quickly by Nora returning with an IV stand,  
"Anyone know his blood type?" Drake asked which Pyrrha, the boy, Ren, and the girl, Nora, all shrugged to before Pyrrha spoke up,  
"Dammit, if only I hadn't left my scroll outside, you don't have yours by any chance Ren, Nora?" she asked to which both Ren and Nora shook their heads, then a voice came from the other side of the hospital,  
"Arc, Jaune, Age 17, Blood Type AB," Velvet called out to which Ren ran and grabbed a bag of AB Blood for a transfusion in case Jaune bled much more to lessen the risk of him bleeding out. Starting the medical procedure, Pyrrha injected him with the shot while Ren and Nora held him down as he started to convulse, his arms trying to thrash, Drake grabbed his legs and held them to lessen his movement and prevent him from opening him wounds as they begun to heal and Pyrrha lined up the IV needle with a large vein in his forearm as he begun to settle down and lie still, the room fell silent as the IV begun to filter out his blood and keep him from bleeding out and the only sound was a periodic 'Bleep', 'Bleep','Bleep' as his pulse was recorded at 97 beats per minutes.

At least ten minutes later the injured leader of team JNPR had been visited by RWBY, Ozpin, Glynda Goodwitch and many other students and teachers. The outcome seemed certain, everyone expected him to die from bleeding out, the medical treatment was too little too late but then Jaune convulsed, coughed and tried to sit up only to be met by Ren pushing him back down with a firm hand on his shoulder,  
"But the Grimm, they'll destroy Beacon. Wait Ren, Nora, Pyrrha?" Jaune burst out at this resistance, "We won?" Pyrrha broke down into tears,  
"Yes Jaune we won, a boarbatusk tried to gorge you and Ruby planted a round in it's skull, we brought you hear as soon as we could and gave you a shot for gorging, full blood treatment and compression bandages, everyone thought you were dead,"  
"Ah, you survived I see Mr Arc, I wondered why there was a shout and then sobbing, I'm glad you are better but I will have to confine you to this medical bay for at least five weeks to give the wound time to heal and remove you from the fight roster for another four after that with only light training allowed up until that point after discharge," Ozpin calmly explained as he walked in followed by Glynda. Velvet picked up her scroll and begun to type quickly

'Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long,  
Come to the medical bay, you will want to see this  
From Velvet'

She sent the message and shuffled her legs out of the bed and grabbed a crutch, hobbling across on one leg she stood by Jaune's bed,  
"I'm glad you're ok Jaune, your team needs you, plus I've lost enough people in this fight, not all of them friends," Velvet said before sitting on a bed next to Jaune. A few minutes later team RWBY walked into the medical ward and saw Jaune sitting up, obviously in slight pain yet still managing to act as though nothing had happened, Ruby walked over a look of shock on her face,  
"Jaune you're alive, that boarbatusk almost tore you apart, I'm so glad you made it," Ruby exclaimed ecstatic before the rest of her team walked in and passed on their greetings.  
"By the way, I went and collected your scrolls from the courtyard off earlier," Ozpin added now that everything had calmed down and handed team JNPR their scrolls before adding, "It's getting late, you may want to get some food and leave before you get chased by the night staff, and Drake," Drake looked at Ozpin, "Make sure you get your equipment tomorrow so that you can fight the Grimm most effectively next time, I saw you on the Dust Glory, quite good shooting" With that Ozpin left the room and Drake helped Velvet back to her bed, then RWBY bid Velvet and Jaune farewell and left followed by the rest of JNPR and Drake who went to get food and then showed Drake to the sleeping quarters while they waited for Ozpin to give him a team.


	3. Know The Enemy

**RWBY is property of Monty Oum, and the rest of the Roosterteeth creators of it, I own none of the rights to anything except my OC's (Teams CMSN, AMND and SCRT). Any feedback is appreciated and I will try to respond to as many reviews possible. I will end up with some fairly graphic fight scenes and generally dark themes since this is a apocalypse fanfic.  
**

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Drake was running, the Grimm chasing him, he looked back and saw the beowolves and Nevermore following him. He ran out of the forest and found the gateway to Beacon academy, running towards the gate he stopped as the remnants of the bunker exploded, sliding to a halt he found the Grimm closing in on him and picked up a branch, brandishing it he prepared to strike the beowolf until,  
"Stop," from a mystery voice to which Drake turned round and saw Pyrrha, Velvet, Nora, Ren and Jaune all standing there. Drake looked mouth open at the people standing there with their weapons drawn,  
"Pyrrha, Velvet, Nora, Ren, Jaune, great are you here to help with the Grimm, what happened to Beacon?" He asked before a King Taiju rose from the rubble that was Beacon and wrapped around Ren, slowly increasing the pressure he slowly turned blue until he heard a loud crack.  
"Why aren't you helping him, he's your friend isn't he, dammit Pyrrha help him." He shouted running and grabbing Ren's Dual StormFlowers just for them to transform into a swarm of Rapier Wasps when he closed his hand, throwing them away he crawled backwards. Ren dropped to the ground in front of the Taiju and Drake looked round to find the Beowolves dive on Jaune and Pyrrha tearing them apart,  
"No, Jaune, Pyrrha!" Drake shouted before swinging the branch down and it exploded into a shower of splinters across the head of the alpha. Drake turned round to find the nevermore pick up Nora and hurl her into the cliff face across the forest before the Grimm all dissipated into streams of black fog before they descended in a spiral into the corpses of Pyrrha, Jaune and Ren. There was a blood-curdling scream as the bodies of the fallen huntress and hunters stood up shakily and the arms cracked before the eyes were consumed by a darkness and the veins of Grimm's host became black in the same way.  
"What is happening, Velvet run!" Drake shouted before the possessed Pyrrha crossed the distance so quick it seemed she teleported, it slowly raised it's hand and a thick tendril of that black Grimm fog attached itself to either wrist and slowly began to wrench her apart, causing screams to echo.  
"Pyrhha! No leave her! This isn't you!" Drake shouted trying to talk the creature in Pyrrha's body out of pulling her apart until Velvet's arms snapped out of their sockets, and the Grimm hosts turned and looked at Drake, he turned and ran but the Grimm kept up with him. This continued until the forest ended and a cliff arrived, the Grimm in Pyrrha opened her mouth and let out a shrill shriek, before it tried again to speak and managed a vague gurgle before,  
"Let us kill the Bunker, open the gate we will spare your life." Drake turned back to the sheer cliff and looked down at the crashing waves below, he looked back at the bodies of his former friends and jumped.

Drake shot up, sweat drenching his chest as he looked around at the room, the walls were the familiar ones of human settlements. Standing up and leaving his bed he walked out to the stairwell and walked up to the courtyard, he strolled out into the middle and wash bathed in moon light, his scarred chest clearly visible until he heard a voice,  
"So you couldn't sleep?" A familiar voice asked, Drake turned around and saw the man who had introduced himself as Ozpin a day ago, "I take it you are experiencing the nightmares, they either leave or stop bothering you eventually," he added before drinking from his cup.  
"Yeah, I had a dream that the Grimm killed some of the huntress' and blew Beacon up, then it possessed the corpse and pulled apart another huntress," Drake replied to which Ozpin walked out into the moonlight and then responded,  
"So, you know about how Grimm can possess the dead to use them against us, it's the reason we no longer have any graveyards in the walls. We found most huntsmen and huntress' are very reluctant to kill a former friend, even if they are possessed by Grimm we discovered that after the events at Mistveil academy bunker, a new team acting on a piece of intel that was wrong they went in and we got no call back after they arrived." He took a sip of his drink before he continued, "They rolled up to the gate in a damaged buggy, heavily injured but we didn't see anything out of the ordinary, they came in and tried to destroy everything, it cost us a few experienced teams and some of our staff, all experienced and former heroes." Ozpin stood there in the moonlight for a short time before he continued, "Was there any other reason you came out here other than the dream, perhaps something to do with having not chosen a weapon design for your time as a huntsman, I gather you do want to be one or am I wrong?" Ozpin asked, cocking his head to the side while he waited for Drake to answer, Drake lowered his gaze from the remnants of the moon before replying with a saddened tone to his voice,  
"Before Signal was destroyed, a few of my friends and myself were after becoming huntsmen and huntress', then the Grimm attacked and we ran, unfortunately for us the Grimm followed and when we were about to die one of the group that had tagged along to come here decided to run towards the Grimm and lead them away. They died so as many could get here as possible but we slowly got eliminated one by one, even by each others hands at the end. As for the weapon I take it Pyrrha told you after they brought Jaune in." Ozpin went to drink from his cup then looked into it, disappointed he sighed and placed it on a small stone plinth where the bust of a famous huntsman one sat and he replied slowly,  
"Yes, she said that you were hesitant to choose either Grimm-scale or metal weaponry but she mentioned the dual wielder option and you seemed to respond to that one. By the way, when you fled from Signal did any of the staff escape or did Grimm get them all?"  
"It got most of them but I know one staff member led them into the gym and was using a scythe against them while some of the older students who refused to leave placed semtex around to kill as many Grimm possible when the school fell. It was detonated about half an hour after my group left, I don't know if the staff or the older students got out, I believe his name was-" Drake was cut off as a shaggy clothed man, or maybe Faunus, clambered over the wall into Beacon with a staff in his hands and the patrols came rushing afterwards, mixed shouts of 'Intruder' and 'Potential Grimm vessel' shattered the, mostly, silent night. Ozpin grabbed his cane and stepped forwards, flourishing his wrist he caught the intruder's shins, and they fell with a crack as his staff clattered on the cobbles and cracked paving. Ozpin stooped down and grabbed the figure by his collar and placed him down on the plinth where the moon highlighted his features allowing Drake to see he was a monkey Faunus,  
"Please don't kill me, I came here to avoid being killed by the Grimm, not to die at the hands of a random man," the Faunus said before a sentry caught up to Ozpin,  
"Sir, should I escort him to the holding barracks until morning?" From a random huntsman, probably Faunus due to their enhanced night vision, who was clad in a grey body suit with a dark visored helmet. Ozpin nodded and dismissed the huntsman with a flick of the wrist before returning to face Drake,  
"You were saying before this interruption, you thought the teachers name was." he explained which Drake then just replied with,  
"Qrow, or some other name like that, I never got to know him when I was there." Drake replied before adding "By the way is there any textbooks or documents about different weapons and maybe a simulation I could build one on and test it?" Ozpin stood still and seemed shaken for a moment, before he swung his hand as though swatting a fly away,  
"It's a shame to hear this about Qrow, I was a close friend of his before he went to help out at Signal. As for your question about a simulation, I'll open the workshop up I'm pretty sure that the one built by myself, Gynda, Qrow and Cinder is still there. You should be able to test it against Grimm models too. Cinder programmed in a combat side, everything had to be violence for her, I never saw her after she said we weren't doing enough for fighting the Grimm and walked out. Anyway you should try to get some rest for the morning, don't you think." Ozpin explained as he picked up his empty cup and started walking back to the large doors to the academy with Drake behind him.  
"I suppose sir, thanks for all that." He responded before parting ways with Ozpin to return to his room, his head clear after the time in the fresh air. Returning to his dorm he climbed back into his bunk and drifted off to sleep wondering how Ozpin had such hope of defeating the Grimm now Beacon and perhaps Mistveil where the only human inhabited places on all Remnant.

Drake was awoken by a repeated thumping on his heavy metal door, followed by a feminine voice.  
"Drake, are you up. Ozpin sent me for you, messing around with a simulator to find a weapon type you like?" Drake shot out of his bunk, surprised he had slept so late he quickly got washed, sorted and dressed before grabbing his door handle and opening it to find Pyrrha on the other side,  
"I am now," He replied, "sorry for making you wait, I accidentally slept in." He fidgeted slightly until Pyrrha smiled and just begun to walk out to the courtyards. She opened the door and Drake flinched, shocked by how clear the sky was and how harsh the shaft of light that struck him was.  
"Ozpin said you want to test some simulated weapons out before you make yours so you can find a design you're comfortable with and can use well," Pyrrha mentioned as she walked out, shielding her eyes, "It's just over here in the workshops," she added before almost jogging across the courtyard and trying a small metal door, "lock must have jammed again, hang on," she told Drake before placing her hand on the door. Nothing and then a small click, followed by another and then a loud clunk as the tumbler turned and dropped.  
"You said magnetism was your semblance, would never have though of using it to open a door," Drake replied before following Pyrrha in to the large workshop as the lights just begun to flicker on.  
"Yeah, I got bored of having to go all the way round to come in the other side so I pulled a spare lock apart so I can open them without just shearing them apart from the inside out." She explained before leading him to a small clearing with a round pad and a small bank of dusty large computers. She turned them on and the pad begun to glow and hurled a small welcome message out.

'Welcome to the weapon simulation pad. Please step onto the highlighted section.'

Drake did and a menu appeared with multiple options from, 'test previous models' to 'build my weapon' to 'Kill some Grimm' and finally 'Exit.'  
"Test previous models or build my weapons?" Pyrrha asked which Drake replied,  
"Test, I'll see if I like any pre-made styles, if not I'll build one." Pyrrha pressed a few keys and the test previous models box light up and the screen became blank while it searched for weapon id's. Five minutes later, 54 pages of weapons had been loaded, Drake looked at the first page of 10 and shrugged,  
"Too basic," he said before swiping and moving to the next page, and then again, and again. This continued until he hit page 35 where he found a chain knife but he passed it, not caring for the lake of melee freedom and continued scrolling. He passed short swords, broadswords, Claymores, spears, trident, scythes, axes and even sickles.  
"Could you load up build Pyrrha, i think I have an idea," Drake asked, then heard a response of typing and then a tool bar on his left hand had different base models, he cracked his fingers after looking at his parts.  
"I can work with this," He said before his fingers flashed over a few boxes.

* * *

**I don't know how many people read these footnotes but if you enjoy this genre (Apocalypse ones) a story I'd recommend you look at would be, 'The Longest Night' by 'HolyOrdersOtaku'.**


	4. A Huntsman's Best Friend

**RWBY is property of Monty Oum, and the rest of the Roosterteeth creators of it, I own none of the rights to anything except my OC's (Teams CMSN, AMND and SCRT). Any feedback is appreciated and I will try to respond to as many reviews possible. I will end up with some fairly graphic fight scenes and generally dark themes since this is a apocalypse fanfic.**

* * *

An hour after he began Drake had a digital pile of broken weapon models lying by his side along with a pile of shattered Grimm masks. Throughout his testing Drake had been visited by numerous people, including Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Ozpin, Nora and Ren along with a large number of other huntsmen and huntress' that Drake hadn't been introduced to who passed by as they performed maintenance checks on their weaponry.  
"So, I don't like Macuahitl clubs, they're too clumsy and slow. Daggers don't have the stopping power or enough melee range. Swords are to basic as are axe's and maces," Drake muttered before throwing a Macuahitl club model into the growing pile of discarded weapons. He grabbed the digital file with weapon models and scrolled until he found the chain knife build and imported a Grimm-scale and Steel-alloy one, a standard Desert eagle and a Grimm-Scale Desert Eagle plus two Kusarigama blades, one Grimm and one steel. He split the chain from the knives and then threw them away before attaching the chain to the butt of each Desert Eagle and the hilt of the Kusarigama, he then built a clip of Dust imbued rounds for the normal Desert eagle and a clip of standard Grimm ones for the other.  
"Pyrrha, could you send another Grimm set at me, one beowolf pack, an Ursa pack, a Deathstalker, a Nevermore and Boarbatusk." He asked as he spun the two Kusarigama round.  
A blue cylinder begun to glow at the end of the simulation and a pack of beowolves and Ursa came rushing at Drake, he smiled and ran forwards decapitating half of the Grimm before the Deathstalker, Nevermore and Boarbatusk spawned. He grinned again and slung the Grimm-scale blade into the chest of an Ursa major then pulled himself towards it slinging the Desert Eagle on the end out of it's holster and shooting three Grimm-scale rounds into the Boarbatusks face armor, spilling blood where it stood. The Grimm dropped to the floor dead and the Deathstalker smashed it's tail through the dissipating body of the fallen Boarbatusk and caught Drake in the left leg as he slid from the Kusarigama embedded in the Ursa, he spun on the floor and emptied the Dust clip into the Deathstalkers face, five of the creatures eyes went dark and it shook it's head. Drake responded first, firing the remaining four Grimm rounds into it's remaining eyes before reloading and freeing the Grimm-scale Kusarigama from the Ursa's chest and slamming it down into the Deathstalkers head. He rolled across the floor as the last two Beowolves jumped at him and he levelled the Grimm-Scale Desert Eagle at the heads before killing them both, he heard a shriek and spun, dropping to one knee he lined the dual Desert Eagles at the Nevermore's face, it dived at him and he fired two rounds form each gun into it's head. The Nevermore hit the ground, hard, and slid across stopping inches away from Drake.  
"I think I've found my weapon Pyrrha," Drake shouted as the corpse of the Nevermore disappeared and he walked towards the computer terminal, then he was met by the applause of team RWBY, Nora, Ren and a few huntsmen and huntress' who had abandoned tuning up their weapons when they saw him fight the digital Grimm with his new weapon. Pyrrha smiled as he arrived,  
"Seems that way, I've already printed the blueprints for this weapon. I'll take you to the Forge after you get something to eat." She told him before shutting the simulator down and walking towards the door out to the courtyard.

An hour later Drake had eaten his dinner and was heading to the forge when Pyrrha walked out of the medical bay,  
"Just been to see Jaune?" Drake asked as Pyrrha walked up to him, she smiled  
"Yeah, he is going to recover very fast, the worst bit of it will be the removal from active duty," she replied.  
"I take it he doesn't want to lie down while his friends are fighting and risking their lives to fight against the Grimm to try and free some of Vytal," Drake asked, before Ozpin walked across,  
"Ah Drake, Pyrrha, if you're not too busy could you go and see if you can get anything from the Faunus who broke into here last night?" he asked. Pyrrha looked aghast,  
"A Faunus broke in, how? The Grimm might be able to get in the same way." She asked, still shocked.  
"He climbed over the walls, running from the Grimm. Did you get a weapon style you like Drake? You seemed quite busy when I passed by earlier so I decided not to bother you." Ozpin replied to which Pyrrha pulled the Blueprints out of a small pocket at the back of her scroll case, she passed them across and Ozpin looked over them nodding.  
"Quite unique, never seen anyone use anything like this before," He muttered, barely heard by both Drake and Pyrrha who responded,  
"He took on a full set of Grimm on the simulator and killed them easily, he's a natural with them." Ozpin smiled,  
"A natural with them, really. I'll have to have a look over the footage, well can you check on that intruder?" He asked and Pyrrha nodded before asking,  
"We will, should we go now or after Drake forges his weapons?"  
"There's no rush, forge his weapon and then go if you want, he's not going anywhere." Ozpin replied before taking a drink form his cup.

Drake and Pyrrha arrived at the forge and put the forging aprons on before Pyrrha brought the steel and Grimm-scale to Drake who had turned on the forge and grabbed a hammer from the wall. He begun by forging the chains for the Kusarigama, both ten foot long, he then created the shafts for his weapons.  
"Pyrrha, is there any trick to the foldable frames?" Drake asked to which Pyrrha nodded,  
"Yeah, you need to make the parts around a socket joint if you want it to unfold but if you want it to extend by sliding you need a roller joint. Why?" She asked.  
"I'm going to make it so the chain can slide into the hilt and lessen the size for when I carry it around, that way I'm not lugging a ten foot chain around my legs," He answered before returning to the forge where he marked a small incision for the roller joint. He continued to perform small works and incisions on the shaft for a good half and hour before connecting it to the chain to try it out. He flourished the frame and it extended from a three foot shaft to six which the chain winched into leaving four feet loose.  
"There's still leftover chain, shouldn't it be bigger?" Pyrrha asked and Drake shook his head.  
"I'm attaching that end to the butt of the pistols and it will run up my back to the holsters, it'll be kept out of the way but leave me with enough freedom to move my firearms without unsheathing." He replied before he begun to forge the metal blade for the first of his weapon pair. Another 45 minutes later he had completed the body of both Kusarigama and only needed to make the dual Desert Eagles to finish the weapons. He turned back to Pyrrha,  
"Do I forge the firearms itself or are the parts in a box anywhere?" He asked to which Pyrrha shrugged,  
"I don't know, I've never seen any pistols parts." She answered. "Ren might know if you need to forge the pistol parts yourself and if so how to. I'll send him a message." Pyrrha begun typing a message and pressed send quickly. Drake quickly looked over the blueprints his weapon creation had produced while he waited for a response form Pyrrha's message. Five minutes later Pyrrha's scroll bleeped and she opened the message,  
'Pyrrha, I made my parts at the forge, I'll come down after shift change and show Drake how to. I'll be finished in four hours. Ren'  
She closed the message and told Drake what it had said,  
"Well, we might as well go and see the intruder as Ozpin asked since we can't do anything else with your weapon forging." Pyyrha added before Drake nodded and started to put his equipment away. Pyrrha went over to a large rack of filing cabinets,  
"Collapse your weapon and put it in here, I'll lock it and later you can get your gear out when Ren helps you to make the pistol parts," Pyrrha quickly added as she unlocked a cabinet. She placed the Dual Kusarigama in and locked it, handing the key to Drake. They walked back out to the courtyard of Beacon and proceeded to the holding barracks. Walking in Drake saw the person form last night hanging from the top bar of his cell by a tail. He walked over and the Faunus dropped down,  
"You're a Faunus? Why did you come here?" Drake asked to which the Faunus replied,  
"Have you seen out there, it's a Grimm war ground. I used to live in the abandoned settlements moving every three or four months. The name's Sun Wukong, what's yours?" Drake opened his mouth to speak when Pyrrha interjected with an irate tone,  
"So you survived out there, by yourself against the Grimm. Why come here if that was working for you?"  
"The Grimm have gotten more aggressive recently, I had to move so much I was barely getting settled when the Grimm attacked, plus I heard about Signal academy. Decided here might be better defended." Sun replied before he pointed at the wall, "that's how I survived against them." Pyrrha and Drake followed his hand and saw a bo-staff on the wall,  
"A staff, really?" Drake asked, Sun turned red before bursting out with,  
"It's not just a staff, it changes into pistol-nunchakus, I can use the staff to keep people back or break it into two to hit people or shoot them when they get near. Plus I'm very agile, I'm a monkey Faunus so that's to be expected." He added before asking, "can I be let out, I came here for refuge not to be put in prison."  
"Until Ozpin says otherwise no," Pyrrha responded before returning to her scroll where she was typing rapidly, Drake looked across slightly and saw she was writing a report on Sun, he glimpsed a small passage,  
'Subject seems to be eager to return to the front, ready to fight the Grimm. He seemed very forth-coming with information and honest.'  
He looked back to see Sun sitting cross-legged on his bed, and Sun looked back.  
"Any chance of food, I didn't get your name by the way," Sun asked, Drake looked across at Pyrrha,  
"I'll see about food but I'm called Drake Harvardson and that is-" Drake pointed at Pyrrha who cut him off with a sharp outburst,  
"Non of his business, if Ozpin trusts him he can find my name out. As for food I'll send some bread and water for now, least I can do." Sun nodded then Drake and Pyrrha left the barracks and Pyrrha's scroll bleeped, she read the message.  
"Ozpin says he sounds open enough, he'll be let out tonight," Pyrrha told Drake before heading out of the barracks followed by Drake. They walked out to see a team leaving in an armored buggy,  
"Where are they going Pyrrha?" Drake asked and Ozpin back from the gate followed by Glynda,  
"They are just on a short recon, they're experienced enough and they know what to expect from Grimm. They'll be fine Glynda." Ozpin muttered  
"Yes but we thought the same about team CRDL and then you saw what happened, it almost destroyed this bunker." Glynda replied and Ozpin sighed,  
"Yeah but we were unprepared then, we didn't have armored buggies then. i suppose if we sent another trained team it could help but they'll be back tonight,"  
"Yes but you're basing this mission on the supposed lights at a warehouse near the coast and a nightclub. It might have just been a Grimm host that had been heading here to lure us out and get new bodies." Glynda almost shouted back before storming off. Pyrrha looked back at Ozpin while Drake just stood, surprised by the sudden exchange between two staff from Beacon. Pyrrha spoke up,  
"What happened Ozpin? Those huntsman left in a buggy to where?" She asked and Ozpin took a sip of his drink before replying,  
"A few nights ago we spotted a warehouse with lights on by the Vale coast and a nightclub further inland, we don't know whats happening so we sent a team to investigate, after that we could offer them refuge or perhaps the option to fight back against the Grimm." Ozpin took another sip before continuing, "Glynda believes this is a set-up by Grimm and we should leave it but we need as many people as possible and if there is lights there must be fuel of some kind which we can use to power the bunker for longer. It's a neccessary risk to send those students into the town to find out what is there, they'll send an alert if anything happens." Drake turned to Ozpin,  
"If you send anyone out and I have my weapon finished I want to go. I may not have a team yet but I want the field experience for when I get one." Drake explained and Pyrrha turned around to look at Drake and then Ozpin,  
"Sir, since Jaune is out of action and that compromises team JNPR, could you add Drake to our active roster if the rest of them team agrees until he either gets his own team or Jaune is added to active duty again?" Pyrrha asked and Ozpin nodded while drinking again. Pyrrha rapidly tapped out a message and sent it to her team, her scroll bleeped a minute later with Jaune's response,  
'If it will keep the team active and he won't be too much of a risk yes.'  
Then Ren and Nora's messages came in  
'If Jaune and you agree I'm fine with it.' from Ren  
'Sure, but if he kills any of us I'll break his legs.'  
Pyrrha chuckled at Nora's message, before turning to Ozpin,  
"They said yes in different variations, but still a yes." She told him and Ozpin nodded,  
"Well report to the briefing room tomorrow morning and I'll find a job for the team." Ozpin turned and walked away and Pyrrha's scroll bleeped again,  
'I'm heading down now, Nora has took my shift so I can help Drake with making his pistols. Ren.'  
Pyrrha had just put her scroll away when Ren walked onto the courtyard and heading to them,  
"Morning Pyrrha, Drake. Heard you want to make Pistol parts for your weapon," Ren told Drake who nodded in response, "we might as head to the forge and begin don't you think?" He half-asked half-told Drake and Pyrrha as he walked to the Forge.


	5. Trial By Fire

**RWBY is property of Monty Oum, and the rest of the Roosterteeth creators of it, I own none of the rights to anything except my OC's (Teams CMSN, AMND and SCRT). Any feedback is appreciated and I will try to respond to as many reviews possible. I will end up with some fairly graphic fight scenes and generally dark themes since this is a apocalypse fanfic.**

* * *

The fires begun to die as Drake finished assembling his pistols, locking the chain into the butt of the grip. Placing his weapon down he walked to the edge of the forge and placed his apron on a hook. He turned around in order to pick up the weapon but found that Ren and Pyrrha had already carried it over and were holding it ready to clip onto his holsters.  
"If you turn around we can clip the shafts into the holster and you can put the pistols away," Pyrrha offered and Drake nodded, accepting the offer. With a small struggle they managed to clip the kusarigama shafts away as Drake tried to talk them through securely locking it in to prevent it falling. After this was completed Drake picked up six white and six gunmetal clips and slid them into his bandolier across his chest, left for the normal half and the right for the Grimm pistol and kusarigama.  
"I'll head up to the courtyard and check that the chain doesn't catch me when I move if you want to sort anything out," Drake told Pyrrha and Ren,  
"Sure, mind I think it may nearly be time to get some food. So don't take too long." Pyrrha replied before opening the door out of the forge so that Ren and Drake could walk through.

Drake stood in the center of the courtyard and turned quickly before starting to run, the chain holding out of the way of his legs as he ran. He grabbed the shafts of the kusarigama and unsheathed them, spinning them in the empty courtyard ensuring that he was able to avoid the weapons as they returned in reality.  
"Drake, I see you finished your weapon." A voice said, a regular tapping the only thing permeating the silence that followed as the owner walked towards him. Quickly Drake reeled his swing in and collapsed his weapon before moving to place it away,  
"I didn't mean to startle you, by all means keep swinging it. You seem to have a gift for it." Drake saw Ozpin as the speaker as he turned,  
"For now I'd rather not with all due respect, in case I hit you with it. I need to be faster at changing the swing or I may hurt anyone who is with me if I swing wrong." Drake explained, "plus I should probably go get something to eat soon, Pyrrha said food would be served shortly while I was forging the guns."  
"The food will still be there for a while yet, plus I can put my aura up if I feel like I'm in any danger, as can most if not all huntsmen and huntresses. Please continue." Ozpin said while gesturing with his hand, Drake sighed and released the pair of weapons and took a stance slowly spinning the weapons about a foot down the chain. He lunged and threw the metal one low before following up with the Grimm one high and turning right to sweep his weapon away from Ozpin who stepped around and placed his cane under the chain before pulling the metal weapon out of the gun holster and across the courtyard.  
"Tighten your grip or a boarbatusk could tear that from your hands as easily as that." Ozpin then followed up by swinging the cane into the curved Grimm scale blade and sending it the other direction. "An Ursa could parry a swing like that and leave you open, an easy target for a beowolf. Never let your guard down, remember they kill because it's instinct, all they know. You fight to live for yourself, those you care for and because of instinct." Ozpin handed the weapon back and begun to walk away.  
"Go get your food, and remember what I told you." He ordered before walking into a the small building that lead up to the walls of Beacon Bunker. Walking inside Drake couldn't help but realize how open to injury or death he would have been if a Grimm was his opponent, to the point he didn't hear Pyrrha call him over.  
"Drake, Drake. What happened to him" Pyrrha asked and Ren shrugged. Standing up Nora ran in front of him and he stopped,  
"Drake are you alright?" Nora asked, and Drake stepped back.  
"Sorry I was thinking. Ozpin was outside while I was practicing and wanted me to show him how I fought and he stopped my swing and disarmed me then battered my other away leaving me open. If that was a Grimm I'd be dead, he didn't even tell me he was going to test my ability, he just stepped in front of my swing." Drake exclaimed. Pyrrha looked at Drake and shook her head,  
"You'll get used to it, he often just tests how prepared people are without warning in order to see what they would do if a Grimm attacked immediately."  
"Really?" Drake asked and Nora nodded, then Ren spoke up.  
"He does it because he wants to see if people are ready for combat, he won't be too surprised he disarmed you because you only just got that weapon."  
Drake got his food and sat down with Ren, Nora and Pyrrha to eat. A variety of conversations begun and ended while eating and before long Drake had mostly forgotten how Ozpin had disarmed him and told him how the Grimm would have killed him.  
"Ozpin said huntsmen and huntresses can use their aura to resist being injured, a well know fact but is it as easy as he says or do most have to practice for a long time?" Drake asked and Ren answered first,  
"All can use it, some easier than others. I was always quite good at it while I know Jaune didn't know how to use it until he was show by Pyrrha." Pyrrha nodded smiling lightly and Drake proceeded to his following question.  
"Since you all have had experience with the Grimm creatures, as in fighting with your weapons. Could you train me in how Grimm will fight so that I can be better prepared for fighting?" The remainder of team JNPR looked at each other and then nodded.  
"I don't see why not, non of us are on duty tonight." Ren answered and they all put their trays away before going to the medical area to see Jaune for a short while.

A few hours after they left Jaune to go to sleep the four walked outside and Drake drew his weapons.  
"What are they called?" Ren asked, "All weapons need a name."  
"Well the Grimm one can be 'Sanguinis Reus' or 'Blood Traitor' and the metal one 'Donec Mors' or 'Steel Death'. Ready?" Drake commented and waited for the nod from his friends. They nodded and his swung his Grimm one low at Ren who looped StormFlower through a link and Drake pulled him close and placed the head of Donec Mors at his neck and let him free,  
"So if a Beowolf got caught in a loop you'd win." He explained and ran towards him, dropping under the next swing and looping StormFlower into a link close to Drake and pulling it under him, almost tripping him. Nora used the distraction to run at Drake who swung and Nora battered it away. Remembering about the guns he drew Sanguinis Reus' gun and pointed at Nora, firing a hollow wax bullet at her and Nora sat, while Pyrrha charged him with her shield up knocking him off him feet as Ren rose his legs.  
"Never leave your back open as you fight." Pyrrha explained and Nora stood up, ready to restart. This continued for a short while and a small crowd of other huntsmen and huntresses gathered, including team RWBY as they prepared to go out to the docks where some lights had been seen.  
"He's a quick learner," Ruby commented,  
"Unlike you," Weiss mentioned and Ruby glared. "You know you should take time to watch before you fight but you always run in."  
"It always works though. Crescent Rose can handle any problem with very little effort." Ruby countered, and Blake joined the conversation.  
"She's right Ruby, with the Grimm getting as clever as they have recently you may need to think, plus if Grimm uses a body he doesn't give time to think or adapt." Yang walked in, totally oblivious to the conversation her teammates had been having, and immediately begun shouting.  
"I'm driving," She grabbed the keys and prepared to walk out, Blake turned around, ready to grab the keys from Yang's hands.  
"You're not, I've seen you drive. Last time I had whiplash for a week." Weiss shouted and Ruby replied quickly,  
"SHOTGUN! SHOTGUN! I CALLED IT." Both Weiss and Blake shook their heads.  
"Almost as bad as each other," Blake groaned before grabbing the keys from Yang, "anyway it's my turn to drive, Weiss had it last."  
"But, that's not fair. I only got to drive because you got hit by a Boarbatusk, it wasn't even my turn to drive last." Weiss pouted. The girls continued this until they had gotten in the armored buggy and the radio turned on, static crackling from the channels that used to be hosted at Signal. Ruby reached over and started changing the frequency until.  
"Welcome to Beacon Radio. Due to the issues with Radio's at Signal we will now be your standard Radio channel. Up next 'Time to say goodbye.' The radio begun to play the first few notes then went off as Blake turned the key. As the engine started it kicked back in with the opening line. Blake begun to pull out of the gates and a sentry stopped her, she reached over and turned the radio down and Ruby reached for it until Blake held the volume knob.  
"Where are you headed?" The sentry asked. Blake grabbed her scroll and opened the orders from Ozpin, handing to the sentry she answered.  
"The docks, we should be back by morning at the latest." He handed her the scroll back and returned to his post, raising the portcullis,  
"Best of luck, we need as many skilled teams as possible now."

Team JNPR and Drake had stopped fighting as team RWBY left and went to the refectory to get food before it closed for the night and the night shift staff opened the Guard tower kitchens. After finishing a small meal they each begun to head to their dormitories when Pyrrha's scroll beeped.  
"It's from Velvet," Pyrrha explained and read it before forwarding it to Ren, Nora and Drake. "Ozpin was sent it from Velvet." She continued, "If he authorizes it we'll be going out to find these people." As if on cue her scroll beeped, with as short message and a subject of 'Go, help them.'  
"Ren you're driving, get the eight-seat buggy. Nora you're in back with Drake, we leave in five minutes. Get everything sorted, looks like you get to come out with use earlier than we expected." Pyrrha explained and nudged Drake, "I hope you're ready, it's often unpleasant if we go out and a few people are fighting Grimm." She ran off to get some gear for going out, including food and water for the survivors, if there was any while Drake ran to his dorm and and grabbed some more ammunition he had created earlier. Jogging he arrived in the courtyard as Ren pulled up and he jumped in, followed moments later by Nora who sat opposite him and Pyrrha who climbed in front.  
"Everyone ready?" Pyrrha asked and everyone replied in turn, "Go, the sentry already knows I told him so the gate should be open for us," Pyrrha explained to Ren and he put his foot down, belting onto the cracked paved road outside Beacon and down into the forest. Half an hour after driving the team could hear the fighting but were unable to drive any further as the twisted roots of trees cut the path off.  
"Out, they're just up past the roots, Ren stay with the car. I'll take Nora and Drake and bring them down, keep the engine running in case we need to go quickly, got it?" Pyrrha ordered and Ren nodded. Drake, Nora and Pyrrha jumped out and ran through the spaces between the trees and their roots. As they got to the top they saw a man in a black suit swing an axe down on a beowolf's head, separating it,  
"Got it Junior, where are you hea.." The man spluttered blood as a tusk tore through his gut, the larger man who must have been Junior lifted and club and crushed the Grimm's head. At the other side of the recently created clearing two twins were fighting the Grimm off. As one kicked an Ursa in the face, tearing it open from one eye to the mouth the other gutted it using claws and it began to flail catching the girls and sending them opposite ways,  
"Militia!" The White dressed one shouted as her twin rolled down the hill and landed bunched against some roots, another black suited man ran to help her but a Deathstalker impaled him and lifted him up before throwing him at the red dressed girl, he hit the tree and fell, landing on her legs. She tried to crawl but he was keeping her legs pinned, the Deathstalker lifted it's tail ready to stab and Militia closed her eyes and began to shout, expecting to feel the tail stab into her, when it didn't she opened her eyes and saw Drake the tail against his palm and Sanguinis Reus' gun pointed at the Grimm, pulling the trigger the Grimm started and collapse, blood gushing from it's eyes. Drake offered her a hand and pulled her from under the man before running to the top of the clearing,  
"Nora, Pyrrha get them down!" Drake shouted and the girls pulled the remaining henchmen, Melanie and Junior to the ground and Drake began to spin the blades, driving the Grimm back as the tips of the blades caught faces or necks. He swung the blades in and shot the last of the Grimm in the face before lifting Militia to her feet.  
"Back to the truck go!" Pyrrha shouted as she grabbed Junior and helped him limp to the truck. After everyone was in Ren pulled away back onto the road and started back towards Beacon until a large number of King Taiju slide out onto the road.  
"Hold on!" Ren shouted and he sped up, crashing into the Grimm the engine stopped and he tried to reverse but was stuck between a dead King Taiju and the rest of the living ones. In the back of the buggy Junior looks at his henchmen and they nod, grabbing their weapons. Seeing this Nora grabs Magnhild ready to fight but the henchmen open the doors and jump out tackling the Grimm,  
"Junior, where are you going?" Melanie angrily asks standing up, "you can't go out there, the huntsmen and huntresses will."  
"They've done enough, I'll go and then they'll get you to Beacon, trust me, I'll get rid of them." Junior chuckled before turning to Drake and Nora and whispering just loud enough for them to hear, "when I clear the road, go. I'm not getting very far, when they attacked my bar a Taiju bit me and the poison is already spreading, that's why I couldn't finish the Grimm before you four arrived, I'm a dead man. Just let the girls survive." He jumped out and slammed the door shut before swinging his club into a Taiju and sending it into the forest. He swung again, a Grimm rolled off the road and Ren started moving. He picked up speed as Junior fought the Grimm off, his henchmen dying around him slowly.  
"Junior! Go back for him!" Melanie shouted, "He saved us, we can't let him die." Militia stood and joined her sister,  
"We lost out parents and he took us in, we worked for him before the Grimm totally destroyed Vale. Go back!" Drake stood,  
"Listen, he went out there so you could get to Beacon, you saw him, he was winning. We'll come back out for him, until then be glad you are getting to safety!" The girls sat down and waited in silence as they pulled up at Beacon. After a short exchange of words from Pyrrha and the sentry they were allowed back into Beacon.

Junior spun around shattering another Taiju's head as the buggy drove away. He watch as it vanished around the trees and swung at another Taiju tearing it from the white half he had killed earlier, as he turned to his henchmen another Taiju struck clamping it's jaws around his shoulder.  
"Junior!" A henchman shouted before driving his sword through the Grimm's eye, just for the black side to slam it's lower fangs into his ribs. Spitting blood the henchman tore the fangs from the Grimm he'd blinded as it fell and killed his assailant, dropping to his knees he saw Junior stand, "please, it'll be.. quicker than my lungs filling..." he spluttered and Junior smashed his skull before dropping to his knees. As his vision began to darken a figure approached, a sheathed sword ready for combat.  
"Taiju poison, oh dear. Painfully slow way to die, I could put you out of your pain but you aren't a Faunus, I think I'll watch as you die. Screaming until your throat is hoarse and words escape you, the sensation of organs shutting down. I wonder if it's painful to feel you body cave in or if the poison numbs you nerves before then." The figure spoke, and sat down on a tree trunk. Junior looked at this man, he recognized him. The entire underworld would,  
"A..A.." He attempted to form a name before he lost control of his tongue, he began to scream as his organs began to burn. Then it was cold, very cold and Junior felt his body hit the ground before everything faded to black. The man stood and took Junior's head before kicking it far into the tree's, one less host for Grimm. Looking at the corpses of the henchmen he repeated this process and set fire to them before following the tracks of the armored buggy,  
"I'm not dying out here. Beacon is better than this, even if they aren't all Faunus." He muttered as he begun the long walk to a shelter.


End file.
